Ohio State? Bama? Indiana? Anyone in the ACC? Who we can -- and can't -- trust

With 4 ranked-versus-ranked games connected the Week 8 docket, we were guaranteed to spot immoderate bully teams autumn this weekend. We got much than we bargained for. No. 2 Miami mislaid arsenic a 10.5-point location favourite to an unranked team. No. 7 Texas Tech (10.5-point favorite), No. 22 Memphis (21.5-point favorite) and No. 25 Nebraska (5.5-point favorite) each fell to unranked squads arsenic well.

And successful the SEC, No. 4 Texas A&M hardly survived 2-4 Arkansas, portion No. 16 Missouri (against 3-3 Auburn) and No. 21 Texas (against 2-3 Kentucky) needed overtime to unafraid roadworthy wins.

Parity has been the watchword successful assemblage shot this twelvemonth -- the elite teams don't look rather arsenic elite, and the sport's mediate people seems person to the apical of the battalion than usual. It rules, frankly. Week 8 surely reinforced that notion. It was a breathless messiness from commencement to finish.

In times similar these, it's hard to cognize what teams and players you tin trust. I'm present to help. After 8 topsy-turvy weeks, we person astatine slightest a decent thought of teams' ceilings and floors, truthful let's speech astir assemblage football's astir -- and slightest -- trustworthy entities.

Trust: Ohio State

I went connected an Ohio State podcast past week and revealed an disfigured truth: Ohio State is annoying the hellhole retired of maine this season. Amid each the parity talk, I'm beauteous definite Ryan Day's Buckeyes are comfortably the champion squad successful the state astatine the moment, but they take to driblet hints lone successful periodic doses. I similar my elite teams to triumph games 63-0 and fundamentally deterioration a elephantine "WE'RE ELITE" sign, but aft past season's acquisition -- successful which the Buckeyes mislaid precocious successful the twelvemonth to Michigan but shifted into 5th cogwheel successful 4 comfy College Football Playoff wins -- nary 1 amended understands that the extremity is to highest successful December, not October.

It would assistance if they had immoderate elite opponents to look toward, but the Big Ten hostile connected their docket that was expected to beryllium elite (Penn State) is thing but, and the Buckeyes aren't scheduled to play Indiana. Instead, they've been near to alternate betwixt second-gear blowouts of iffy to atrocious teams and comfy 18-point roadworthy wins implicit solid-but-unspectacular opponents specified arsenic Illinois and Washington.

Day astatine slightest fto Julian Sayin propulsion immoderate pitches Saturday. In beforehand of a less-than-robust Wisconsin assemblage (perhaps conscionable hours earlier the inevitable firing of caput manager Luke Fickell), Sayin, who averaged conscionable 26.8 dropbacks per crippled successful his archetypal six starts, went 36-for-42 for 393 yards and 4 touchdowns. He distributed the shot to 10 receivers, though the dynamite duo of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate combined for 15 catches and 208 yards.

Wisconsin's discourtesy was ne'er going to endanger the champion defence successful the state -- the Badgers gained conscionable 144 full yards and took conscionable 9 snaps successful Ohio State territory (yards gained successful those snaps: 6) -- truthful determination was nary downside to stretching Sayin retired a bit. He averaged lone 10.9 yards per completion, and Smith is inactive averaging conscionable 9.4 yards per drawback and 6.9 yards per people against power-conference opponents. For that matter, the Buckeyes' tally crippled is producing astir nary explosive plays, but 1 assumes the passing crippled volition supply much than capable explosiveness if it's ever asked to, particularly arsenic Sayin, the redshirt freshman, grows successful confidence.

Of course, we mightiness person to hold a portion to corroborate that. Ohio State gets a bye week, past 4 consecutive games against teams with losing records (Penn State, Purdue, UCLA, Rutgers). Three of those games are astatine home, and 3 of those opponents fertile worse than 65th successful SP+. Anyone craving a glimpse astatine fifth-gear Ohio State is astir apt going to person to hold astatine slightest different month.

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